What’s a Spider? Designation of the Neotype for the First Animal Species Ever Described, Araneus angulatus Clerck 1757 (Araneae: Araneidae)

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  What’s a Spider? Designation of the Neotype for the First Animal Species Ever Described, Araneus angulatus Clerck 1757 (Araneae: Araneidae) Abstract We designate a neotype for the Eurasian spider species Araneus angulatus Clerck, 1757, thereby fixing the objective application of the species name, the genus name Araneus Clerck 1757, the family name Araneidae Clerck 1757, and the superfamily name Araneoidea Clerck 1757. By etymology and arachnological tradition, it also unofficially fixes the application of the ordinal name Araneae Clerck 1757 and thus answers the uncontroversial question, “What’s a spider?” A. angulatus also happens to be historically the first animal species ever described because Clerck (1757) has priority over Linnaeus (1758). Neotype designation is justified for three reasons: the syntypes of A. angulatus are lost; “ A. angulatus ” contains significant COI sequence divergence, potentially representing intraspecific variation, misidentifications, or as many...

Description of a new genus and species associated to the family Chaerilobuthidae Lourenço & Beigel, 2011 from Early Cretaceous Burmite (Chelicerata: Scorpiones)

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Description of a new genus and species associated to the family Chaerilobuthidae Lourenço & Beigel, 2011 from Early Cretaceous Burmite (Chelicerata: Scorpiones)

Abstract

One more new genus and species of fossil scorpion associated to the family Chaerilobuthidae Lourenço & Beigel, 2011 are described from Early Cretaceous Burmite. Spinochaerilobuthus Lourenço gen. n., with the new species Spinochaerilobuthus andreschmidti Lourenço sp. n., represents the third genus to be clearly associated to this familial group which is so far one of the most speciose among those known from Burmite. The new genus shows several clear morphological characters which can distinguish it from the two other known genera previously confirmed as associated to the family Chaerilobuthidae, attesting the existence of a marked generic variability within this family. Further comments on the variability of different morphological characters are also presented.

Lourenço W. R. & Velten J., 2026. – Descriptions d’un nouveau genre et d’une nouvelle espèce associés à la famille des Chaerilobuthidae Lourenço & Beigel, 2011 de l’ambre du Crétacé inférieur du Myanmar (Chelicerata : Scorpiones). Faunitaxys, 14(29): 1 – 8. https://archive.org/details/faunitaxys-f-430